Family rivalry begins

Vazquez signs with his father's rival, Glenville

March 24, 2013

CHARLES TOWN - It had been virtually days since Tony Vazquez signed his letter-of-intent to play football at Glenville State, yet the trash-talking began almost immediately in the family.

Father against son; son against father.

Glenville is a longtime rival of Shepherd, the alma mater of his father. Nelson Vazquez played football for the Rams from 1982-85.

Article Photos

Journal photo by Ron Agnir

Now the Vazquezes are on opposite sides.

"The next few years..," Tony Vazquez said.

The Washington senior can't wait for day when the longtime rivals from the West Virginia Conference play their first game under the banner of the new Mountain East Conference.

Dad might be a little more reluctant, though Dad realizes that blood matters more.

"The game at Shepherd, he said he'll have on Glenville blue but a Shepherd T-shirt underneath," Vazquez said.

Rivalries don't die that easily, in other words.

Vazquez narrowed his college choices down to Glenville and Shepherd incidentally, making the situation even closer to the vest in the family.

"My dad was really the pushing point behind recruiting," Vazquez said. "He knew what it was all about. He took himself out of it emotionally. He just wanted what was best for me. Any way I went, he'd be proud of me."

His football coach, Mark Hash, is a graduate of Glenville, making matters even more personal.

"My friends, I don't think any of them went to rival schools of their dad," Vazquez said. "I think it's ironic and funny."

Glenville had a step up in the eyes of Vazquez.

"Right after the season ended, the recruiting process began," Vazquez said. "Glenville was one of the first schools recruiting me and pursuing me.

"When I went up there, I liked the campus. The place is great, and the coaching staff is awesome."

Vazquez also drew interest from Shippensburg and Alderson-Broaddus.

"Since I was a little kid, I always had a dream to play college football," Vazquez said. "After my junior season, that dream started coming into reality as colleges started talking to me."

The senior projected as an inside linebacker for the Pioneers.

One thing that appealed to Vazquez is that he is under the impression he'll get a chance to play as a true freshman, rather than being redshirted.

"The big thing that really got me going was that they put big emphasis on giving me every chance they can to give me (playing time) as a freshman," Vazquez said. "That was really cool for me."

Surely cool for his father, too, despite the rivalry.

Vazquez plans to study criminal justice at Glenville.

Beyond the rivalry with his father, Vazquez noted he'll have an opportunity to play against Washington teammate Tyler Wilt, for whom the Glenville recruit worked hard to raise funds to help defray the costs of Wilt's cancer treatments. Wilt, who didn't play football his senior year because of a tumor discovered in his chest, signed to play football at Shepherd.

"It will also be pretty cool to be able to play against Tyler Wilt, my former teammate," Vazquez said.